A professional band with two decades experience, Black Velvet Band can provide you will a first class Barn Dance, Ceilidh and Irish Ceili and an American Hoedown – or even a brilliant set of Irish songs and tunes performed in simple café style. Looking for a different “take” on a Christmas party? You will enjoy a Christmas Ceilidh! Jase and Mike from Black Velvet Band Ceilidh Trio have set lots of traditional carols and popular songs as dance tunes. The band, of course, dress in their best Christmas jumpers and Santa hats!

The band’s flexible line-up depends on the style. The virtuoso fiddle-playing of Mike Evans dominates the sound. An accordion and fiddle sit at the heart of the Scottish style. Want to go Irish? Guitar and excellent vocals join the fiddle and accordion along with double-bass. Nashville-style bluegrass fiddle-playing leads the Hillbilly Hoedown sound.

The band is happy to include a session or two of organised dancing in ceilidh or barn dance style.Don’t worry if you’ve never experienced these styles of dancing before. It’s easy! The band’s specialist ‘dance-caller’ will explain and show you how. Anyway, getting mixed up and tying your feet in a tangle is half the fun – it’s not ‘getting it wrong’, it’s all down to individual interpretation!

Want to go Scottish? The dance-caller will include all the tried-and-trusted favourites such as ‘The Gay Gordons’ or ‘Strip The Willow’. If you’d like a ceili, Irish-style, Black Velvet Band will throw a few well-known Irish songs into the mix, and give you ‘The Siege Of Ennis’ and ‘The Bridge Of Athlone’. Prefer to pull on your cowboy boots, a kerchief and Stetson and wheel out your dos-y-dos at an American hoedown? These guys will treat you to a real down-home hootenanny, Texas-style. Additionally, the guys can round the night off with a set of Gypsy-style Swing Jazz.

Ceilidh, ceili, barn dance or hoedown? BVB is simply the best!

A specialist dance-caller for each specific style

The band can dress in costume to suit the event

Irish Song Repertoire

Black Velvet Band

Carrickfergus

Dirty Old Town

Fairytale Of New York

Fields Of Athenry

Follow Me Up To Carlow

Green Fields Of France

I’ll Tell Me Ma

Lakes Of Pontchartrain

Londonderry Air (Danny Boy)

Muirshin Durkin

Ride On

Sally Gardens

Seven Drunken Nights

Spanish Lady

Star Of The County Down

The Irish Rover

Town I Loved So Well

Whiskey In The Jar

Wild Mountain Thyme

Wild Rover

….and plenty more….

Irish Dance-Tunes

Around The World For Sport

Belfast Polka

Fairy Dance

Fiery Clockface

Foxhunters

Ger The Rigger

Irish Washerwoman

John Ryan’s Reel

Merrily Kiss The Quaker

May Moon

Morrison’s Jig

Soldier’s Joy

The Gobbio

The Rocky Road To Dublin

Trip Upstairs

….and plenty more….

Scottish Dance-Tunes

Atholl Highlanders

Cameron McFadyean

Dashing White Sergeant

Devil Among The Tailors

Down The Glen

East Neuk Of Fife

Flower Of Scotland

Flowers Of Edinburgh

Gay Gordons

Mairie’s Wedding

Peter Street

Prince Charlie

Scotland The Brave

The Haughs Of Cromdale

The Mason’s Apron

….and plenty more….

Folky Pop

Ain’t No Sunshine

Daydream

Have I Told You Lately

Hound-Dog

House Of The Rising Sun

If I Fell (Instr)

In My Life

Johnny B. Goode

Let It Be Me

Moondance

Norwegian Wood

You Win Again

You’ve Got A Friend

Sunny

Hey Good Lookin’

Up on the roof

Hillbilly Hoedown Repertoire

Achy-Breaky Heart

Always On My Mind

Act Naturally

American Pie

Bad Moon Rising

Bile Dem Cabbage Down (Instrumental)

Blue Moon Of Kentucky

Blue Suede Shoes

Bye Bye Love

Can’t Hold Out

Comin’ Round The Mountain

Country Roads

Dance The Night Away

Diggy-Liggy-Lo

Donkey Reel (Instrumental)

Don’t Fence Me In

Durang’s Reel (Instrumental)

Goodnight Irene

Hello Mary Lou

Hey, Good-Lookin’

I Love You Because

I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight

Jambalaya

King Of The Road

Me And Bobby McGee

Midnight At The Oasis

Orange Blossom Special (Instrumental)

Raining In My Heart

Stand By Me

Sweet Home Alabama

Take It Easy

Turkey In The Straw (Instrumental)

When Will I Be Loved

You Are My Sunshine

Your Cheatin’ Heart

Swing Jazz Classics

After You’ve Gone

Ain’t Misbehavin’

Anything Goes

Autumn Leaves

Blue Moon

Don’t Get Around Much Anymore

Georgia

Girl From Ipanema

Honeysuckle Rose

I Can’t Give You Anything But Love

I’m Confessin’

It Had To Be You

Lady Be Good

Makin’ Whoopee

Moon River

My Blue Heaven

Night And Day

Out Of Nowhere

Pennies From Heaven

Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter

Summertime

Sunny

Sunny Side Of The Street

Sweet Sue

S’Wonderful

The Nearness Of You

They Can’t Take That Away From Me

….and plenty more…

Christmas Songs

Do They Know It’s Christmas?

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Fairy Tale Of New York

Frosty The Snowman

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday

It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

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Reviews (29)

5 out of 5

Jennie Evans

January 8, 2018 - 3:19 pm

Paul’s 60th Birthday Hoedown Barn Dance – January 6th, 2018

A big thanks to Mike and the rest of the band for a brilliant evening. Everyone has said how much they thoroughly enjoyed it. A special thank you to Alan, the dance caller. He did a great job – quite a comedian! Finally a big thanks to the band for welcoming our fiddle-playing friend Richard into their ranks for the evening. He said he had a fantastic time. What a great party band the guys make! I’m very happy to recommend them to anyone having a bash.

Jennie Evans

January 8, 2018 - 3:18 pm

Harriet’s 21st Birthday Ceilidh in December 2017

from Rating: 10/10
Many thanks to the Black Velvet Band Ceilidh Trio for a fantastic 21st Birthday Ceilidh. The band provided a perfect balance for the young and young-at-heart, catering for everyone from the super-lively, to wheelchair-friendly dances, which was a lovely touch. Everyone had a great time.

Andrew Moncrieff

September 18, 2017 - 1:19 pm

Ceilidh for Hawkins’ Team Building Event: September 2017

Black Velvet Band provided a five piece ceilidh band and caller for the finale of the Hawkins’ team building event. We thought the room would be too big – but we were wrong! The band brought an absolute gem of a caller, who read the crowd perfectly and the dance floor was full throughout the evening. We could have done with a larger space! The band was superb and the event was enjoyed by all concerned. I thoroughly recommend the band.

Brendan Lyons

September 11, 2017 - 4:48 pm

Meet Tyson Furey at Tylorstown Sports Centre: 9th September 2017

Black Velvet Irish Trio were brilliant! 500 Furey fans stomped and jigged and sang along as they waited to be photographed with Tyson! Great stuff, lads – I’m going to book you back for next year’s event.

Lizzie and Ross Harris

Black Velvet Band Ceilidh Trio provided a brilliant ceilidh for our wedding celebrations at Goldney Hall, Bristol on 12 August 2017. What a fantastic evening! The band entertained our hardy Scottish guests with well-known Scottish dances but it was most enjoyable to see English friends and family ceilidh dancing for the first time and loving it! The dances were called very clearly and were quite ambitious so there was much hilarity. It was infectious fun and everyone got involved. (The dance floor was almost too small!). Mike and the band were extremely accommodating, professional and enthusiastic. They have a huge repertoire and organised the evening flawlessly, from our first dance (Gay Gordons) to the throwing of the bouquet and the final Circassian Circle. Highly recommended.

Janet Astley - Mother of the Bride

May 15, 2017 - 11:21 am

Wedding Ceilidh at The Great Tythe Barn: May 2017

Thank you, guys, for finding time beforehand to rehearse with Amy, the bridegroom’s sister, who sang Elton John’s “Your Song” for the bride and groom’s 1st dance. It was beautiful and very special to have her sing their first song with accompaniment from the band. I think everyone was very moved by it (we are hoping someone filmed it but are not sure!). The dance floor was packed all evening for the ceilidh and we all had great fun – which was the intention.

It was an amazing day, evening and whole weekend – we carried on the celebrations on Sunday! Thank you to Black Velvet Band for helping to make the wedding so memorable.

Robin Martin

May 12, 2017 - 1:42 pm

Black Velvet Band Celtic Trio – Robin Martin’s Wedding: April 2017

We booked the BVB for our wedding in April at Stonehouse Court. We specified Celtic music and they were excellent – they even learned a song for me to sing with them in two weeks flat! True musicians who really know their stuff. They were punctual and did not skimp on time – not taking lengthy breaks between songs which I know some do. A really great experience – I thoroughly recommend them.

Katie Verity

May 11, 2017 - 4:18 pm

Black Velvet Band Irish Duo – Surprise 70th Birthday: April 2017

Black Velvet Band Irish Duo performed at my Mum’s surprise 70th birthday. We loved the performance and didn’t want them to stop! The party was a huge success and the excellent music really helped to create the atmosphere. Thank you very much, guys!

21st Birthday Ceilidh - March 2017

April 3, 2017 - 1:10 pm

Amazing night with joyous music from the band from start to finish. Very accommodating for our age span of 8 years to 80 years! Plenty of caller participation to get us all going in fun dances which everyone said made them ache the next day! I heartily recommend them. Very friendly too!

Black Velvet Irish Band: St Pat's March 2017

March 20, 2017 - 12:31 pm

We have booked Black Velvet Band for our Wedding in Devon on 20th May. We were delighted to find out from Jennie that they were playing at The Water Poet in Spitalfields on St Patricks Night. Being from London, this was perfect. We arrived to a heaving pub with great Irish tunes belting out the door. The pub was packed and everyone was Irish on Friday. Black Velvet Irish Band played everything from The Wild Rover to some traditional reels and jigs. The were excellent and we cannot wait to have them play on our special day. We met with the lads after who were all so friendly and welcoming. I’ve been in a quite a few pubs on St Patrick’s Day but I’ve never experienced an atmosphere like that. The crowd were singing and dancing, Black Velvet your were fantastic, we cant wait to see you guys on 20th May 2017.

30th Birthday Party 13/08/2016

August 23, 2016 - 8:30 am

The band set up according to the plan that had been agreed and once the music got underway, the dance floor was packed for the whole night. Some of our guests had never been to this type of evening before and all we had back was extremely positive comments about the band and of the whole evening, which was to celebrate our daughter’s 30th Birthday.
The band was an integral part of the night and made the night go with a swing.

Vicky & Steve Wilson

June 22, 2016 - 9:54 am

Black Velvet Band Irish Quartet: 03 06 16

Steven and Vicky Wilson’s Wedding

Vicky and I are just back from a wonderful honeymoon in Thailand. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you, Mike and all the Black Velvet Band for playing at our wedding. For some it was a new experience hearing a traditional Irish band perform.
We all had a great time.

Lindsey Meredith

June 22, 2016 - 9:51 am

Black Velvet Band Irish Duo: 11 06 16

Ruby Wedding Anniversary Party

Just wanted to say thank you so much for the music, fun and sheer merriment you provided on Saturday. It was an absolutely cracking party, everyone had a blast and my parents loved every minute! Your music was perfect, you had everyone up singing and got everyone in the party spirit. Everyone has been passing on their thanks and regards, so just wanted to say thank you for making the party such a special and memorable occasion.

We’ll all be there in force at The Water Poet in Spitalfield’s London next year on St Patrick’s Day, so we’ll be sure to come and say hello again! Thanks again, it was brilliant and hope you both enjoyed it too.

St Patrick's Day: 2016

March 18, 2016 - 4:39 pm

Just wanted to say thank you to the Black Velvet Irish Band. For the second year in a row, Eddy, Mike and Johnny were an absolute crowd pleaser and everyone had a brilliant time on St Patrick’s Day at The Water Poet in Spitalfields, London!

Alison

February 21, 2016 - 4:58 pm

We were really pleased that we had booked the Black Velvet band for a ceilidh at our daughter’s wedding at Old Down Manor. Before the event they spoke to our daughter and planned with her exactly what she would like from them, the type of music and how they would organise the evening so that she and her new husband could be ‘danced out’ at the end. On the day the band arrived in good time with all the appropriate equipment for the location. The performance was very professional, the music great and they got all the guests dancing along. The caller’s instructions were clear.
So overall we were very happy and would definitely recommend them and the ‘Hop Til You Drop’ administrative team.

Will & Katie Betts

August 24, 2015 - 5:40 pm

We celebrated our wedding at The Grange and we would like to thank you for helping to make our evening so enjoyable. Everyone said what a lovely idea a ceilidh band was and how brilliant it was that it included everyone. Thank you.

Ian Gray-Souldern Village Committee

July 25, 2015 - 6:28 pm

Black Velvet Band helped make the Souldern Village Ceilidh a great success. Ours was a Village event with all ages and the Band got all ages dancing. They played superbly and brought a caller with a good sense of fun. They provided music to dance to, music to listen to and an entertainment show all in one! On a practical level they were professionally early arriving, leaving the event organiser relaxed and free to have a drink! Greatly appreciated in all regards.

Ed Hall (50th Birthday)

March 26, 2015 - 12:05 pm

We had a fantastic time with the dance floor full. Everyone enjoyed themselves. The band were excellent and were very accommodating throughout the evening. They were patient and very encouraging in getting people to participate. Thank you very much for making my wife’s 50th birthday celebrations special!

BVB - St Particks Day March

March 3, 2015 - 2:43 pm

What can I say? The band was brilliant. Great vocals from Johnny, ably supported by Mike on fiddle and Eddy on accordion. By the end of the night everyone was dancing and calling for more. The band couldn’t get off the stage! I’m keen to book for next year already! (Charlotte Prior on behalf of The Water Poet, Spitalfields, London)

Perry & Claire - Wedding

July 30, 2014 - 8:40 pm

Thank you for the wonderful ceilidh on our wedding day. Everyone had such a fun time and loved the dancing, even those of us who had never done it before! You provided just what we wanted for the special day, despite being so close to Christmas and with terrible weather, and it was a highlight of the evening. All the best!

Nicola Feather - 18th Birthday Party

April 10, 2014 - 5:23 pm

Dear Mike, Jason and Terry (in no particular order) Thank you so much for your part in a lovely evening. I realise now what a creative act a barn dance is, requiring co-operation (co-ercion??!) (gently done!!) from all sorts of assorted people. We had a fabulous time, and I shall treasure the looks of thorough enjoyment on each of the dancers’ faces.

Roy Lonergan - Wedding

September 27, 2013 - 11:01 am

I just wanted to say such a huge thank you for the amazing performance that you gave. You were so friendly and willing to help in any way that any nervousness about getting up to dance was immediately dismissed. I was extremely apprehensive prior to the night about how the dancing would go down, especially with my two left feet! However my worrying was in vain, what a fantastic night of dancing it was, so inclusive that any and all can get up and get involved, aged 5 or 105. You need no experience or talent, just listen to the brilliant calling, it’s all simple moves but when it comes together with all your friends and family on the night, prepare to be amazed. I can not thank the band enough for making our Wedding such a fantastic night, I have never seen so many people thoroughly enjoying themselves all at once. I can sincerely recommend the Black Velvet Band for any social occasion, your expectations will be exceeded.

Emily & Shaun Berry

August 31, 2010 - 2:23 pm

We would just like to thank you very much for a brilliant evening of music and dancing at our wedding. We have had a lot of great feedback about how fun you were, you even made the ‘non-dancing’ people dance! We really enjoyed it, thank you very much.

Amy

July 20, 2009 - 1:47 pm

I just wanted to write a quick note to say thank you for playing at our wedding on the 18th July at Fursdon House. The music was fantastic and all our guests loved the informal but fun approach to the dancing. It was a real hit at the wedding and we wouldn’t hesitate in recommending you to others

Marianne Frosdick

July 8, 2009 - 11:56 am

Just wanted to thank the Black Velvet Band for a really great evening last Saturday. They were excellent musicians and the caller was superb (very patient with the Danish contingent who took some time to get the hang of the instructions!) What I particularly appreciate is how considerate and adaptable the band was regarding my wishes. I had lovely time and have had a lot of positive comments from my guests.

Jonathon Miller

May 22, 2009 - 12:39 pm

Black Velvet ceilidh band played at my daughter’s wedding on Saturday. Please let them know how excellent they were, and the evening was a great success greatly helped by the excellent calling, music and dancing. I have had lots of good comments from guests and would recommend them to anybody.

Louise

February 27, 2009 - 8:08 pm

The band were an absolute delight, just the right mix of professional musicians and informal enough to mix in with people and jolly them along. They were completely marvellous and everyone had a great time, even though some people had never done ceilidh dancing before and were a little shy.

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